After sweeping its week with wins against Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, a new AP Poll was released Monday afternoon. With Duke climbing to No. 9, the Blue Zone takes a look at the new rankings:
Duke climbs
While the Blue Devils struggled against a relatively weak Pittsburgh squad Thursday, they managed to pull out the late victory against the Panthers with strong defensive play and some clutch shots down the stretch. While Duke could have had a better showing against Pittsburgh, the Blue Devils had a big-time game against then-No. 7 Notre Dame Sunday afternoon, walking out of Purcell Pavilion with a 57-52 victory. Duke played an excellent defensive game, holding what has been a dangerous Notre Dame offense to just 40.4% from the field. The win in South Bend, Ind., was a statement against a very good ACC opponent, and Duke was rewarded in the rankings. The Blue Devils climbed to No. 9 in the poll.
North Carolina slips
While the Tar Heels did win against Virginia this week, they struggled in their second game, falling 62-55 to Louisville Sunday. Sophomore guard Hailey Van Lith dropped 17 points for the Cardinals, who pulled out the win despite scoring only eight points in the second quarter. Losing to an unranked team, even a solid one like Louisville, hurt North Carolina in the rankings. It dropped to No. 14 this week.
Iowa State falls
The Cyclones had a very rough week, dropping both of their games to unranked teams. On Wednesday, they lost a nailbiter to Kansas State, 78-77. Despite guards Lexi Donarski and Ashley Joens dropping a combined 35 points, Iowa State could not surmount a monstrous 27-point game from Wildcat guard Gabby Gregory. In their 76-70 loss to Baylor Saturday, the Cyclones struggled to find offensive production from much of the team. Forward Nyamer Diew, Donarski and Joens combined for 60 points. The rest of the team scored just 10. Two unranked defeats, even close ones, punished Iowa State in the rankings as it fell to No. 21.
Stanford stumbles
While the Cardinal did put together a blowout win on Friday, beating Washington State 71-38, Stanford struggled in its second game of the week, losing to a middling Washington team 72-67. Huskie guard Elle Ladine had an impressive game, dropping 21 points off the bench and leading both teams in scoring. The Cardinal took a rankings hit as a result of the Sunday loss, dropping to No. 6.
Complete rankings:
1. South Carolina
2. Indiana
3. LSU
4. UConn
5. Iowa
6. Stanford
7. Utah
8. Maryland
9. Duke
10. Notre Dame
11. Virginia Tech
12. Michigan
13. Ohio State
14. North Carolina
15. Villanova
16. Oklahoma
17. Arizona
18. UCLA
19. Florida State
20. Texas
21. Iowa State
22. N.C. State
23. Gonzaga
24. South Florida
25. Colorado
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